Pneumatic pump



T. E. SMYTHE.

PNEUMATIC PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-1,1919.

Patented June 7, 1921.

a SHEETS-SHEET! T. E. SMYTHE.

- PNEUMATIC PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 1919.

1,380,603; Patented June 7, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- T. E. SMYTHE.

PNEUMATIC PUMP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 1919.

1,380,603, PatentedJune 7,1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. SMY'lI-IE, OFI-IAMMONID, INDIANA.

PNEUMATIC PUMP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Trlorms SMY'lHE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hammond, in the county of Lake and State oi Indiana, have invented certain new and vices, and particularly to that class of.

pumps wherein air is used as a means for forcing water from a lower to a higher level.

The general object of this invention is to provide a very simply constructed easily installed, and simply operating mechanism of this character wherein two cylinders are provided, one above the other, and provide in connection therewith valves and controlling means therefor whereby while one cylinder is being emptied oi water, the other cylinder is filling.

And ,a l urther object is to provide a mechanism of this character wherein the cylinders are located one above the other, and provide automatically actuated valve mechanism of a very simple character whereby air will force the water in the lower cylinder into the up; er cylinder and then permit the upper cylinder to be discharged while the lower cylinder is filling. I

And a further object is to provide a mechanism of this character wherein the valves controlling the discharge of water from the upper cylinder and the discharge of water from the lower cylinder, and the inlet and exhaust of air from the upper and lower cylinders respectively are operated by floats, said floats and valves being disposed in the upper cylinder so as to be very readily repaired, replaced, or adjusted whenever such measures are desirable.

A further object is to provide an improved form or float actuated valve or valves for controlling the passage of water and air into or from the cylinders which will only cause a shifting of the valve or valves when the water in the upper cylinder has been entirely discharged, or when the upper cylinder is practically entirely filled.

A further object is to provide a construc tion of this character in which water will be discharged from the upper cylinder only when needed, or in other words to provide Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J ne 7 1921 Application filed November 1, 1919.

Serial No. 335,054.

a pump which will operate automatically so long as water is being drawn from the pipe line to which the pump is connected, but which will cease its operation when the discharge of water from the pump line is stopped or when the pressure of water in the pipe line is sufiicient to resist the pressure of air in the air line.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will appear in the course o1 the followin description. f

ifly invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of one form of my pneumatic pump;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional'view of'the lower check valve Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4: 1s a vertical sectional vlew' on an enlarged scale of the upper chamber 1llus- 4. J J 1 trated in Fig. 1, and showing a coherent position of the valve; Fig. 5 1s a plan view of the disk 61, the stem being in section;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of another forni of valve and float controlling mechanism.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates the lower pumping cylinder and 11 and 12 the lower and upper heads thereof.

The upper head 12 is .held by screws 18 to" an annulus 14 having lugs 15 and bolts 16 engage these lugs and pass through the circumferential flange 1'? of the lower head 11. Thus, the lower cylinder is formed of praca tically three sections with the top 12 of the upper section readily removable by itself. The head 12 is formed with a central aperture and below this aperture there is disposed a downwardly extending pipe 18, the

upper end of which is enlarged, as at 19, to form a valve casing. The lower head 11 is formed with a central opening,and coacting with this opening is a check valve 20 held in place upon a cruciform body 21,

the lower end of this body having attached thereto a disk 22 of greater diameter than the diameter of the opening through the head, this dislr having at its periphery a plurality of pins 23 limiting the upward movement of the valve 20. When this valve is I lowered, it closes the inlet opening through the head 11. fWhen the valve is raised, it permits water from the well A to flow into the lower cylinder.

Attached to the upper head 12 concentric to the opening therein is a valve casing 24, to which a discharge pipe 25 is connected, this valve casing 24 being attached to the head 12 by means of screws or other easily detachable devices, and disposed within the valve casing is an upwardly opening check valve 26 having a cruciform body 27, a lower disk 28, and upwardly extending peripheral pins 29 which limit the upward movement of the valve. lVhen this valve is raised by the pressure of water within the cylinder 10, water may pass up through the pipe 18 into the pipe 25. The valve is lowered by pressure of water within the pipe 25.

Connected to the pipe 25 is an elbow 30 which connects to a discharge pipe 31. Disposed above the elbow 30 and connected thereto by a pipe 32 is the upper cylinder 33, closed at its upper endby a detachable head 34, and formed integral with this head or detachably connected thereto is an upwardly extending valve casing 35, closed at its upper end by a detachable cap or cover 36, and having therein a vertically shdabie valve 37 which controls the admission of air and the exhaust of air to the cylinders 10 and 33 respectively, as will hereafter appear. This valve is carried by a vertically extending rod 38 which, at its lower end, has a piston 39 operating within a cylinder 40 forming part of the lower end of the cylinder 33, this cylinder 40 being open at its lower end and containing therein a com pression spring 41 supported at its lower end and bearing at its upper end against the piston 39 to raise this piston and the rod 38 upwardly. The upper end of the cylinder 40 communicates with the interior of the chamber or cylinder 33. The valve 37 is urged against one wall of the valve casing by means of a follower plate 42, urged against the valve by springs 43 bearing at their rear ends against plunger heads carried by screw-threaded plungers 44 which extend to the exterior of the valve casing, and by rotating these screw-threaded plungers, the tension on the springs may be ad j usted, and thus the pressure exerted on the valve may be adjusted. r

This valve 37 is formed with a longitudinally extending duct 45 which, at its upper and lower extremities, is laterally extended to form ports 46 and 47. Adjacent the port 47 there is a port 47 Extending through the wall of the valve casing is an air inlet port 48 connected to an air pipe 49. Disposed adjacent the port 48 is an exhaust port 50 connected to an exhaust pipe 51, and below this port 50 there is a port I 52 which communicates by means of a pipe 53 with the upper end of the cylinder 10. Now when the valve 37 is in its raised position, the air port 46 will communicate with the duct 45, while the port 47 will communicate with the port 52, and thus communication is established between the source 01": air and the cylinder 10. At this time the port 47 is blanked and the exhaust port 50 is blanked. When the valve is lowered, however, the air port 48 is blanked, the exhaust port 50 is connected to the port 46, and the port 47 communicates with the port 52, and any air which may be within the cylinder 10 is thus permitted to exhaust through the exhaust port 50 and pipe 51. It will thus be seen that as the valve 37 is alternately raised or lowered, the cylinder 10 is alternately connected to the source of air or the air within the cylinder 10 is allowed to exhaust.

The admission of air and the exhaust of airfrom the cylinder 33 is controlled by valves coacting with the valve casing 54. This valve casing is formed at its upper end with a relatively large chamber 55 and extending from this chamber into the cylinder 33 is a duct 56. The valve casing is formed on each side of the duct 56 with a plurality ot'exhaust ports 57 extending from the interior of the casing to the open air. Disposed within the chamber 55, which chamber is connected by a pipe 58 to the source or" air, is a check valve 59 having an enlarged head which, when the valve is lowered, closes the duct or port 56. The stem of this valve is smaller than the duct or port 56 so that when the valve 59 is raised, air can pass down around the valve and through the passage or duct 56. It will be obvious that the stem of the valve 59 might be formed in various ways to secure this object.

Operating in the lower end of the duct or port 56 is a vertically shittable rod- 60, which carries upon it a valve 61. This valve has a diameter sniiicient that when the valve is raised it will close the ports 57 and the valve adjacent its center is formed with air inlet ports 62 which, when the valve is raised, register with the port or duct 56 to permit the passage of air from this port into the interior of thecylinder 33. collar 63 is also mounted on the rod 60, and when this red is raised by a float 64 sliding on the rod and striking the collar 63, the rod will lift the valve 59. When the rod is lowered by the float 64 striking a shoulder 65 on the lower end of the rod 60, the rod 60 will be pulled downward a distance sufficient to permit the valve 59 to close and the valve 61 to open.

The float 64 slides freely on the rod 60 between the stops 63 and 65, and is formed at its upper and lower ends with flanges 66 and 67. Pivotally mounted upon a bracket 68 depending from the head 34 is a double latch 69 which, at its upper and lower ends, is formed with detents 70. Preferably, each of these detents-is pivoted to the body of i The lower end of this latch is illustrated as having extending from it an arm 72, and extending upward from this arm is a rod 73, and sliding on this rod is a float 74, the upward movement of the float with relation to the rod being limited by a stop 75 on the rod.

Now assuming that the water has been forced out of the cylinder or chamber 33 and the float 74 is down to its lowest extremity, then in this position of the parts the lower detent will engage the lower flange 67 or float 64, holding this float down. The valve 61 will be opened and the valve 59 will be closed. We will assume now that water is being forced into this upper chamber 33 or cylinder, and as the water rises, the float 7 4 will rise with it, and when the water has risen a predetermined degree, the float 74 will strike the stop 75, exerting a lifting force on the arm 72 which will force the latch 69 from its engagement with the lower flange 67 of float 64. This float will now rise very suddenly and will pass the detent 7 O at the upper end of the latch 69 and striking the collar 63, will lift up on the rod 60. This will close the valve 61, closing the exhaust ports 57, and the rod will lift up on the air valve 59. Thus, air may enter the chamber or cylinder 33.

When the chamber 33 becomes filled with water, the weight of the water acting on the piston 39 will force this piston downward against the force of the spring 41 and this will shift the valve 37 downward so as to disconnect the lower cylinder or chamber 10 from the source of air and connect this lower cylinder to the exhaust port 51. Thus, the air under pressure which has previously filled the chamber 10 will now pass out through the exhaust, permitting chamber 10 to refill, while the air admitted through port 55 and duct 56 will force the water out of the chamber 33. As the water is forced out of chamber 33, the float 74 will fall and when the float strikes the arm 72, it will depress the arm, releasing the upper end of the latch 69 from its engagement with the upper flange 66 of float 64 and the float will then fall suddenly. The float will pass the pivoted detent 70 at the lower end of the member 69 and will strike the Shoulder 65, forcing the rod 60 downward, whereupon the air valve 59 will close and the exhaust ports 57 will be opened, permitting the outward passage of the air within the chamber 33. With the fall of water, the spring 41 will again exert itself to cause the upward movement of the valve 37 and the chamber 10 will be again connected to the source of air under pressure.

It will be understood that the chamber 10 is disposed within a well, cistern or like water collecting place and below the level of the water therein. The chamber 33 may be disposed in the basement of a house or in any other desired position above the level of the chamber 10 and the pipe I have illustrated this pipe 31 as being provided with a faucet 76, but this is purely dia rammatic to illustrate the fact that when this valve of faucet 76 is closed and the water cannot escape from the pipe 31, there will be such reverse pressure within the chamber 33 as will prevent the escape of water therefrom under the pressure of air. Preferably also the pipe 31 is provided along its length with a check valve 77 which will prevent the reverse flow of water from the pipe 31.

In Fig. 6 I show a modified form of valve and valve controlling mechanism for controlling the passage of air into and out of the upper and lower chambers. In this case, a slide valve 78 is mounted in the valve casing 35, which has the same form as that previously described, but which is provided with the two air inlet ports 79 and 80, both connected to the source of air. The valve casing is also provided with an exhaust port 81 and with a port 82 connected to'the lower cylinder or chamber 10 by the pipe 53 The slide valve 78 is formed with a longitudinally extending duct 83 opening at its lower end into the chamber 33 and at its upper end being provided with two laterally extending ports 84. The valve is also provided with a longitudinally extending duct 85 having two branches 86 and 87 at its ends, and an intermediate branch. 88. hen the valve is raised, the port 84 alines with the upper air port 79, while the lower air port 80 is i blanked. The lower air port 84 is blanked. I

connects with port 80 and port 88 with the port 82, thus connecting the lowermost chamber with the sourceof air. The valve is attached. to a rod 38 and at its lower end is provided with a head operating in a socket 89 within which is a spring cushion 80. Sliding on this stem or rod 38 is a float 64 which, when it is lowered, strikes the head in the lower end of the rod 38 and when it is raised strikes a shoulder 91. This float is provided with upper and lower flanges just like the float 64 previously described. The float is held in its raised and lowered posisame form as the latch 69 previously described and operated in the same manner by a sliding float 74: operating on a rod 73.

With this construction, the float T l gradually descends as the water in the uppel tank lowers, and when it strikes the arm 72, it shifts the latch 69, releasing the up per detent of the latch from the float er. The float 65% then falls, striking the head on the lower end of the rod 38, and the weight of this float then lowers the rod 88 and the valve 78. Then the water rises within the tank 33, the float 7st first rises until it strikes the shoulder the upper end of the rod 73. Then it releases the lower detent on the latch 69 from the float 6 F and then the float 64- rises, rapidly strikes the shoulder at the upper end of the rod 38", and shifts the valve 78 upward where it is engaged by he upper detent on the latch.

It will be seen that in both forms of my invention it is possible to readily remove the top of the chamber 33 or 83, leaving the rod 8S and the float mechanism still in place. After the top of the chamber has been shifted, the float mechanism may be removed, if desired, for repair or replacement. The valve carried by the rod 38 or 38 may be readily removed for cleaning or replacement. (if course, the lower chamber 10 may be raised from the well by detaching the pipe 25 from the elbow 30 and making a disconnection in the length of the pipe 53. Then the valve casing 2% may be removed and the valve 26 repaired and replaced, or the chamber 10 may be taken apart and the valve 20 repaired or replaced. The valve casing 54 may be readily removed from the top 3% of the chamber 33 and this carries with it the valve 59 without in any way affecting the float rod 60, the float 6%, or the float operating mechanism.

lVhile l have illustrated what I believe to be the best embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto,.as it is obvious that many changes might be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims appended.

1. A pneumatic pump comprising a lower chamber connected to a source of liquid, an upper chamber into which the lower chamber discharges, said upper chamber having a liquid discharge outlet, a valve mechanism adapted in one position to permit the entrance of air under compression into the lower chamber to force the liquid therein into the upper chamber, and in this position permitting the outlet of air from the upper chamber, said valve in its other posi tion permitting the inlet of air under pressure into said upper chamber to discharge the water therefrom and permitting the outlet of air from the lower chamber to permit the lower chamber to fill, and float actuated means within the upper chamber for controlling the movement of said valve and comprising means shiftable suddenly in one direction when the liquid within the upper chamber has risen to a predetermined level therein and shiftable suddenly in the other direction when the liquid within the chamber has descended to a predetermined point.

2. in a mechanism of the character described, a chamber having a connection with a source of liquid under pressure and havsaid chamber ing a liquid outlet opening,

having an air outlet port and an air inlet port connected to a source of air under pressure, a valve in one position opening the air inlet port and closing the air outlet port and in another position opening the air outlet port and closing the air inlet port, and means for shifting said valve including a single float, and means keeping the float submerged and preventing upward movement of the float until the liquid in the chamber has risen to a predetermined level and holding the float supported above the liquid level until the liquid has lowered to a predetermined level.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, a chamber connected to a source of liquid at its lower end and having a liquid discharge opening at its lower end, an air outletport and an air inlet port connected to a source of air under pressure at the upper end of the chamber, a shiftable valve in one position opening the air inlet port and closing the air outlet port and in another position opening the air outlet port and closing the air inlet port, a valve controlling member having upper and lower abutments disposed r spectfully at the upper and lower ends of the chamber, a valve controlling float .novable' through the height of said chamber and in its upper position engaging the upper of said abutments and in its lower position engaging the lower of said abutments to thereby open or close the ports, and

float actuated means detaining the valve con trolling float at its lower position until the liquid has risen in the chamber to the upper end thereof and then suddenly releasing the valve controlling float to permit said float to rise by its buoyancy and strike the uppermost abutment to thereby shift said valve, said means holding the said valve controlling float at the upper end of the chamber until the liquid level has lowered to the lower end of the chamber and then suddenly releasing said valve controlling float to permit the float to drop to the lower end of the chamber and strike the lower abutment and thereby reversely shift the valve.

t. In a mechanism of the character described, a' chamber connected to a source of fluid under pressure and having a liquid dischar e 0 emn a com ressed air inlet 2: 2: p In port, and an air outlet port, a shirtable valve in one position opening said air inlet port and closing the air outlet port and in an other positionclosing the air inlet port and opening the air outlet port, a valve rod operating to open the air inlet port and close the air outlet port upon an upward movement of the rod and close the air inlet port and open the air outlet port upon a downward movement of the rod, said rod having vertically spaced abutments, a float sliding on said rod between the abutments and acting to lift the rod when the float strikes the upper abutment and lower the rod when the float strikes the lower abutment, and a float operated latch holding the valve controlling float from movement until the liquid in the tank has risen to a predetermined level and then suddenly releasing said valve controlling float and holding the valve controlling float in its raised position until the liquid has lowered to a, predetermined level and then suddenly releasing the valve controlling float.

5. In a mechanism of the character described, a chamber connected to a source of fluid under pressure and having a liquid discharge opening, a compressed air inlet port, and an air outlet port, a shiftable valve in one position openlng said air inlet port and closing the air outlet port and in another position closing the air inlet port and opening the air outlet port, a valve rod operating to open the air inlet strikes the upper abutment and lower the rod when the float strikes the lower abutment, a latch bar pivoted intermediate its ends and extending parallel to said valve rod and having detents on its opposite ends adapted to alternately engage with the float when the float is in its raised position or its lowered position, an arm extending from said latch, a rod engaging said arm and eX- tending vertically upward therefrom, and a float movable on said rod, there being stops at the opposite ends of the rod with which the float engages when it has reached the upper end of the rod and the lower end of the rod respectively.

6. A mechanism of the character described including a chamber having means whereby liquid may be admitted thereto and discharged llllGTGfl'OlIl, a valve, a cylinder opening into the chamber, a piston therein shiftable in one direction by the pressure of water in the chamber, means acting to move the piston in the opposite direction upon a decrease in pressure within the chamber, and operative connections between said pistons and the valve.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

7 THOMAS E. SMYTHE. 

